Proverbs 16:28
Gossip is no good!
It causes hard feelings
and comes between friends.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When
I was a little girl, there was a popular “party game” called “Gossip.”
We would sit in a row, and someone would whisper something in the ear
of the person on one end, who would turn and whisper to his/her
neighbor, who would repeat this process until the phrase was shared with
the person at the end of the line. The last person would repeat out
loud what had been whispered to him/her. Then the first person would
say what they had been told. Most of the time, what the first
person heard was nothing like what was repeated by the last person in
the line.
I would venture to say that all of us have some
experience with gossip. We have probably shared some “juicy tidbits”
ourselves. But if you or someone you know and love has ever been the
victim of ugly rumors and talk, you know how hurtful this can be. The
damage can last a lifetime. Let’s be honest…gossip can create a
question mark in your mind about the person(s) involved - whether the
rumor is dispelled or not. This is just human nature. And if you are
the victim of gossip, your attitude and impression of those who shared
it can be forever altered…even if that person apologizes and begs for
your forgiveness.
In The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick
Warren calls on us to have the courage to say to those who offer
gossip…”I do not need to hear this.” We don’t have to be rude about
it…but we must be firm in our response. Nothing harms the body of
Christ like gossip among His children!
Proverbs 18:8 says,
“There’s nothing so delicious as the taste of gossip! It melts in your
mouth.” When you are presented with this “delicious temptation,” learn
to say “No, thank you!” The more you practice, the better you will
become. I can’t say that I am totally “there” yet…but I do find that I
catch myself more frequently and say, “I don’t need to go there.” And I
am always glad that I took a breath and regrouped.
Every time we
avoid the temptation to share gossip, we make God beam with pride…and
we give the devil a swift kick in the pants! Let’s make this a habit
that we practice so often that it becomes second nature. Let’s make the
devil so sore that he can’t sit down…and glorify Jesus in the process!
We’ll all be better for it in more ways than we can count! Are you
with me?
©2015 Debbie Robus
*The Purpose Driven Life ~ ©1997 Rick Warren ~ http://purposedriven.com/books/pdlbook/#purpose
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